Bird flu: Govt seals OUAT poultry farm

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Tuesday sealed the poultry farm of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in view of the flu outbreak there.
Ratnakar Rout, director of the animal husbandry department, said, “Poultry production in the farm will be restricted for one year. The farm premises will be disinfected every 15 days to ensure that the area is infection-free,” he added.
The farm was sealed after culling of the birds and burying of carcasses in the presence of a specialised team from the Centre, which is currently in the city to monitor the situation. The move comes after Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) confirmed the H5N1 — the avian influenza virus — in the samples of dead birds from the poultry farm at the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry under the OUAT on January 27.
Following the flu outbreak, all poultry birds from shops, business establishments and houses within one km radius of the infected area were culled. “The restriction on selling of chicken and eggs in the infected area is for one month. This apart, consuming chicken and eggs after cooking and boiling them has been declared safe in other parts of the state,” Rout said.
Rout added that the area within 10 km radius of the epicentre – OUAT farm – was under surveillance. “We collected samples from 76 villages in and around Bhubaneswar to ensure that there is no occurrence of H5N1 virus in birds. The reports are negative so there is nothing to worry about,” Rout said. A medical team from the state government also conducted health checks on people, who are residing in the infected area and had complained of cold and cough.